Sigmund beegmann



(No Modl.) I

S'. BERGMANN & J. T. DEMPSTBR ELECTRICAL; SWITCH.

No. 376,976.y Patente-d Jam. 24, 1888.

i* i UNITED STAT-Es* PATENT Cir-RICE.

sIGMUND RERGMANN, OE NEw YORK, N. Y., AND JOHN Trios.' DEMPs'rEROE sUMMInNEW JERSEY, Ass'IGNORs rroY RERGMANN a COMPANY,` OE NEW Y YORK, N. Y. y Y

" ELECTRICAL SWITCH. y

. SPECIFICATION formingfpart of Letters Patent No. 376,976,l dated January 24, 1888. Y v

Applicationiiled May 27, 1887K.

To iZZ whom, it may concern: c

Be it known that we, SIGMUND BERGMANN, of New York city, in the county and State of New. York, andJoHN THOMAS DEMPs'rER, of 5 Summit, in the county of Union'and State of yNew Jersey, have jointly invented a. certain new and useful Improvement in Electrical Switches, of which the following is 'a4 specification. .i s l The object `we have in view is to produce a simple, compact, and durable movement for "snap-switches for making and breaking electric circuits, and especially circuits employing heavy currents, such as those forop- 15 erating electric lamps or motors. In switches of this character, in order to make and break the circuit with rapidity and certainty, and thereby prevent the formation of an arc at the contacts, a spring-movement zo is provided, so connectedvwith themoving contact-piece and with an operating-handle that the turning of thehandle does not di-Y rectly move the contact-piece, but acts to store up power in the spring, lwhich is released by z5 the -Continued movement of the handle and throws the contact-piece independent of the handle and with a rapid. and certain move? ment. This broad subject-matter 'we do not claim. f

3o Our invention, however, relatesto a switch of this character; and it consists in the peculiar mechanism employed by us for producing the snap action ofthe switch, 'in the combination'therewith of the elements of the switch,

35 "and in certain details of construction of the i switchand its parts, all as more fully hereinafter explained, and pointed out by the claims. In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure l is a top viewof a double- 40 pole switch embodying our'inventiomwith the 5c hollowed out on its under side to inclose the parts of the movement.

Bis the operating-handle, mounted' upon a p the cam at the opposite points b c.

- pins j' g apart'. y

on the arm F will Amove away from' the pinh roc Y serial No. 7,239,521. (No model.)

spindle, C,which topof the base and is perpendicular thereto. AV metal bushing, a, surrounds the spindle where it passes through the base, and forms a bearing vfoi-the easy working ofthe spindle. On the end of the spindle, beneaththe' top of the baseLis secured a cam, D, which is formed of a plate and isconstructed Awith an eccentric V rise'from a point, b, to anoppositefpoint, c,

passes cen trally through the '1 and from the lpoint cthe cam is concentric withv f,

the spindle to the point ,where thereis a directradial drop in the cam connecting the high point d of the cam with thelowest point, Yb. Two arms, E F, are pivoted 'by the screw eV to the under side of the base near its edge and y,

project toward'the cam, D, pins f g onthek inner ends ofthe arms resting normally against fg are connected by a spiral spring, G, -which These pins is strained slightly andholds the pins normally against the ca m.

Above the base there is'mounted uponithe i bushing a, so'as to turn freely thereon, a cross-Yl bar, H. This barhas a pin, h, projectingfrom.y

it downwardlyinto a curved slot, z', in the top` of Vthe base.

posite sides of the pin h, and normallyA embrace The arms E F have fingers k,v which` project upwardly into the slot i-on'op- Y the pin. `The cross-bar H is the moving contact-piece kof theswitch, or carries the moving contact-pieces, as will bel presently explainedrIhe function of the parts that have been described is to throw this crossbar first inl one direction and then in the other. l Y -Withthe parts in the position shown i'nFig. 2,the. pin'f of arm E'resrs' at the pointe of the cam D at the top of the rise on theV cam, l

while the ping ofarm F rests at the lowest point, b, ofthe cam.

Now,the handle and caml being turned, the inner'end of thearm F-.will

be forced outwardly by the rise of the cam,

while the arm Ewill remain'stationary, its pin Working Onthe concentric portion of the` cam. The. effect of thismovementis t'ofpu't the spring Gvunder tension by spreading the At the same time the iinger k onthecrossbarH. Themovementbeing continued, thenger on arm F will reachtheiend of the slot i at the same time the pointd ofthe cam will pass lunder the pin f onl the 'arm 'Ihe spring G, being at its greatest tension, will` draw the pinfand the inner end of the arm E inwardly with great rapidity, bringing the pin j' to the lowest point, b, of the cam. The a ger k on the arm E bearing on the pin h of the cross-bar H, such crossbar will be thrown with rapidity, under the full power of thespring G, in one direction. Now, if the handle is turned farther, the arm F will remain stationary, while the arm E will be moved by the rise of the cam, again straining the spring, and when the pin g of the arm F is passed by the point d of the cam the cross-bar H will be thrown in the opposite direction with the same rapidity and force.

For the contacts o'f a double-pole switch four posts, I I and K K', are mounted on the base at opposite sides. From these posts spring contact-plates Z Z and m m project around the edge of the base in opposite directions. The plates Z l are parallel at their free ends, and are placed one above the other, and this is also true of the plates m m. The posts I I K K pass through the top of the base. They are hollow, so that circuit-wires can be run up into them from the under side ofthe base, and` they have screws n above the base for securing the circuit-wires. One side of the circuit will be broken at the posts I I and the other side at the posts K K', so that by simultaneously bridging the springs Z Z and mm the two sides or poles of the circuit will be closed. To do this without forming a cross or short circuit, the crossbar H is perforated at each end and has two buttons, o o', of insulating material, which are placed ou opposite sides of the bar and meet in the perforation. Two disks or plates, p p', of copper, are placed on the but tons o o and arc connected by a copper rivet, q, which passes through. the buttons. The buttons insulate tlieplates p p', as well as the rivet g, from the crossbar. The cross-bar has a similar set of connected contact-plates at the other end.

Whenthe handle is turned to throw the ends of the cross-bar between the pairs of stationary contact-plates ZZ m in', they will be bridged by the plates p p and rivets q on the ends of the cross-bar,and the circuit -will be closed. Vhen the cross-bar is thrown in the opposite direction, it will leave the plates Z Z and m m and will break the circuit. I

For a single-pole switch, Fig. 4, only two posts, L L', will be used. These will be on opposite sides of the base, and the cross-bar H will make metallic contact with springs from these posts. The circuit when completed will pam from one post to the other through the cross-bar.

l. In an electrical switch, the combination of a moving contact-piece, arms throwing such contact-piece in opposite directions, a cam spreading such arms apart and constructed with a drop to release such arms alternately, and a spring forcing said arms together, substantially as set forth. l

2. In an electrical switch, the combination,

witha moving` contact-piece and an operating handle, of a cam turned by such handle and constructed with a rise, a concentric portion and a direct drop, two arms forced upon opposite sides of the cam by aspring, and connections from such arms to the moving contact-piece, substantially as set forth.

3. In an electrical switch, the combination, with a moving contact-piece and an operatinghandle, of two pivoted arms connected with and moving the contact-piece in opposite directions, a cam turned by the handle and located between such pivotcd arms and constructed with a drop to release such arms a1- ternately, a spring connectinglthe arms and drawing them together upon the cam, and connections from such arms to the moving contact-piece, substantially as set forth.

4. In an electrical switch, the combination, with a base, of a moving contact-piece and an operating-handle located above the base, a

cam beneath the base turned by such handle,

two pivoted arms beneath the base embracing the cam and forced thereon by spring-press ure, a slot in the base, and fingers from the pivoted arms extending into said slot and embracing the contact-piece or a pin therefrom, substantially as set forth.

5. In an electrical switch, the combination, with the base, of a stationary bushing therein, the operating-spindle turning through such bushing, the moving contactpiece turning upon the bushing independent of the spindle, a cam turned by the spindle, pivoted arms em bracing the cam and forced thereon by springpressure, and connections from'the arms to the moving contact-piece, substantially as set forth. Y

6. In an electrical switch, thc combination, with the base, of the moving contact-piecathe operating-spindle, the cam constructed with a rise, a concentric portion, and a direct drop, the pivoted arms embracing the cam, a spring drawing the arms together upon the cam, a pin on the contactpiecc projecting into a slot in the base, and fingers on the pivoted arms embracingsuch pin,theparts being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

7. In an electrical switch, the combination, with the swinging metallic cross-bar having perforated ends, of two sets of stationary con tact-springs, one set being in the path of movement of each end of the bar, insulating-buttons on the ends of the bar, contact-plates on such buttons, and a rivet connecting the opposite contactplatcs at each end of the bar through the insulating-buttons and the perforation in the cross-bar, `substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed thisl IIO 

